BBC English Masterclass: Inversion 2: Reduced conditionals and more

In this Masterclass, Dan's going to show you more about inversion including reduced conditionals and adverbs of place or movement.

TRANSCRIPT
Under no circumstances should you stop watching this video! Only here will you get the full inversion explanation 2. Are you ready? Let’s invert!
Inversion happens in English for emphasis, dramatic purpose or formality. In order to invert, the subject verb object order of a normal sentence is changed in some way. Let’s find out how. Go!

So, by now you should be familiar with the conditional forms of English. These sentences usually start with if and relate to the result or possible result of a real or imagined action. So, for example:

If you go to town, will you get me a cola?
If I were an animal, I would be a dog.
If I had stayed longer, I would have learned a new language.

However, in second and third conditionals we can remove the if and invert the subject and auxiliary verb. So:

Were I an animal, I would be a dog.
Had I stayed longer, I would have learned a new language.

Got it? To invert a first conditional in this way, we need to use the word ‘should’. Should makes a first conditional more polite and more tentative. So:

If you should go into town, will you get me a cola?

Now to invert we just remove the ‘if’ and invert the subject and auxiliary verb as normal. So:

Should you go in to town, will you get me a cola?

It's also worth remembering that negatives in these forms are not contracted. So:

Should you not go into town…
Were I not a human…
Had I not left so early…
#learnenglish #bbclearningenglish #conditionals #inversion #grammar #vocabulary #masterclass

When an adverb of place or movement is put at the beginning of a clause, then the whole verb phrase, and not just the auxiliary verb, can be put before the subject. This is done for dramatic effect and is usually conveyed in a written style and even more so when introducing a new noun. So, for example:

The spy came through the window,
becomes more dramatic with the inversion:
Through the window came the spy.

300 men would stand in the pass,
becomes more dramatic with the inversion:
In the pass would stand 300 men.

This style of inversion is more common in speech with words like here, and there and small adverbials. For example:

There sat my father.
On ran the racers.
I opened the box and out jumped a puppy!

But, if you use a pronoun, it’s important that you put the pronoun before the verb. So:

Not: There sat my father. But: There he sat.
Not: On ran the racers. But: On they ran.
I opened the box and out jumped a puppy. Or: …out it jumped.

Got it?

So beautiful was she that I fell in love immediately

We can use so plus an adjective, then we invert the normal subject and auxiliary verb, and finally we use ‘that’ to describe how strongly something’s description affected us and what the consequence was. So beautiful was she that I fell in love. We can do the same thing with a noun using such:

Such a beautiful woman was she that I fell in love immediately.

[bbclearningenglish]

Find out how to use the phrase 'if only' with English In A Minute!

[valerir]

Such a good teacher is Dan that I've finally understood inverted clauses 🌠

[blue-mrju]

< Inversion of Conditionals >
■ Purpose 00:18
■ First conditional (should) 01:19, 01:37
■ Second conditional (were/ were to) 01:01
■ Third conditional (had/ were to) 01:03
■ Contraction (X) 01:41

[snowy]

Every time I hear "got it?" I realize that it was too fast for me

[yulicanales]

Such a brilliant teacher was he that i got everything!

[ambar]

Now can I fully comprehend what that phrase in Mission Impossible actually meant: "Your mission, should you choose to accept it... " 😃
Thanks Dan and BBC 👍

[stefycadena]

Such a great youtube channel is it that I got it clearly.

[artemedutech]

complicated! Only when i started living alone did i realise how hard it was. Correct?

[andon]

"If my man was fighting I would stand behind him" = "Behind my man fighting would I stand"?
Thank you!

[ivamorales]

Thank you so much! I perfectly understood it

[mariamkinen]

I truly honestly believe I know these. Out it jumped I didn't know, though. Thanks

[watermelon]

For example, "Should you have any questions, please reply to this email." is commonly seen at the closing paragraph.

[abdulghanialkhen]

Thank you Dan very intriguing and useful explanation for Inversion

[eddienidle]

Please, tell me whether it is correct: "There are so many beautiful places in the world that hardly will you have been to all of them!"?

[rwhymfp]

Hi! Can I ask a question? If the first part of the conditional sentence is passive, how should I invert the sentence?

E.g.
If scientific statistics were shared to the maximum extent, scientists would be able to speed up their research processes.

A. Were scientific statistics shared to the maximum extent, ....
B. Were scientific statistics to be shared to the maximum extent, ....

Which sentence is correct? Thank you very much.

[watermelon]

Under no circumstances should you stop learning English! You understand?

[jenyrosiva]

Please correct me if I’m wrong.
Base sentence : If I were you, I’d ignore them >> Were I to be you, I’d ignore them. Is this correct?

[thanhxuan]

had i known you beforehand, i would have learnt loads of outstanding lessons. :v

[ershadst]

What if our sentence in the 2nd conditional, does not have the word "were"?

[rafaellourencorosa]

In the last examples (so and such), is the inversion an option or do I always have to use it?